I’ll Settle for the Rain

“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.” — Sylvia Plath, journal entry dated 8 August 1952

It’s 61F and pouring outside now at 5 p.m. It’s been raining like this all day and hasn’t been much warmer. I’ve been wearing long pants and purple fleece, drinking cup after cup of jasmine tea, and, yes, there’s a woodstove fire.

woodstovefire18Aug2017

And yes, we had s’mores, with dark chocolate and vegetarian (vegan, actually) marshmallows.

smorewoodstovecorrellplate18Aug2017.JPG

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We’ve had a visiting neighbour cat with us since 8 a.m., meowing under our windows shortly after the rain began. She’s been sleeping 90% of the time, first in the bed with me for an hour, then on the love seat in the sitting room (surrounded by windows), then on a guest bed in spouse’s office, on a chair below the fly-tying desk in his office, under a bed in the guest room, and now on the sofa near us and the fire.

Peachescatsleepingloveseatsittingroom18Aug2017
sleeping on the sitting room love seat
PeachescatchairTomsoffice18Aug2017
sleeping on chair under desk – cozy!
Peachescatwatchingmesunroomdoor18Aug2017
watching me outside while she stays warm and dry inside the sunroom

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She apparently minds the rain. But I don’t. I walked around without a coat or hood for a little while late this afternoon, collecting images of the rain and mist, the ponding and puddling, the way the limbs are heavy, the vibrancy of the colours.

slugwetgrass18Aug2017
slug!
rainwaterpoolingpatio18Aug2017
rain water pooling on patio
goldenrodshadowsrainwaterwheelbarrow18Aug2017
goldenrod nodding into rain-filled wheelbarrow
rainwatergushinggutterrainbarrel18Aug2017
rainwater gushing over rain barrel
mistrainslope18Aug2017
mist and rain on the slope (raspberry bushes)
frontgardenrainmist18Aug2017
part of front garden in rain and mist
rainwetblackeyedSusans18Aug2017
waterlogged black-eyed Susans
redpeaches18Aug2017
very red peaches
dogwoodredleaves18Aug2017
dogwood leaves
browningdockleafrainwater18Aug2017
burdock leaf browning and soggy

This odd, uneven time.

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“Well, I’d like to have the ocean / But I’d settle for the rain” — Rosanne Cash, from “World of Strange Design”

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